(AFP) Spain will set up emergency camps for up to 7,000 migrants as part of a plan to tackle the huge influx of arrivals in the Canary Islands, the government said Friday.
The plan also involves reinforcing Salvamento Maritimo’s coastguard rescue teams in the area, alongside a diplomatic offensive as part of a concerted push to address the crisis in the holiday islands where more than 12,000 people have landed since September.
Migration Minister Jose Luis Escriva unveiled the details at a news conference in Gran Canaria after talks with regional officials who want urgent government action given the saturation of the islands’ migrant services.
Escriva said “tents and emergency encampments with 7,000 places” would be set up within weeks as a temporary solution while the government readied other facilities, mostly military, in a “more stable” setup for processing arrivals.
